Fishlake Scenic Byway (U-25)
Places to Visit
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Fish Lake occupies a basin surrounded by steep-sided mountains. The basin was formed when a section of land lying between fault lines along the base of the Mytoge Mountain on the south, and Fish Lake Hightop to the north dropped. The down-drop block is called a graben. Water trapped on the surface of the graben formed Fish Lake.
Location: South Central Utah
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Fish Lake Lodge was built from 1928 through 1932 of native spruce logs. It measures 80x320 feet and is one of the largest and most impressive log structures in the U.S.
Distance from byway: On the byway Directions: Located on Fish Lake, on U-25, about 5 miles from the junction with U-24.
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The Fishlake National Forest, named for the largest lake on the Forest, was established in 1899 and occupies 1.4 million acres of plateau and mountain land.
Location: Central Utah (Beaver, Piute, Millard, Sevier, Sanpete and Emery counties.)
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When Fish Lake drained from the western end, it flowed around to Rabbit Valley, toward Capitol Reef National Park, before joining the Fremont River. Now, outflow from Fishlake and Seven Mile Creek pass through Johnson Reservoir to form the Fremont River below the dam. The river is part of the Colorado System which drains into the Pacific Ocean through the Gulf of California.
Location: Fishlake National Forest
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At 11,599 feet, this peak stands as a remnant of a once eminent plateau. Landslides around the plateau edge gradually peeled away material until only this narrow, ridge-like highland remained. Fifty-four square miles of landslide debris surround Mt. Marvine and attest to its landslide origin--a phenomenon first recognized by geologist C.E. Dutton, who originally named the ridge "The Blade."
Location: Fishlake National Forest
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The broad, wet meadow on the north side of the road is an old lake bed. During the Ice Age (Pleistocene Epoch) or shortly after, a lake formed behind a moraine dam. After a long time, an outlet stream overtopped this dam, cut a channel, and drained the lake into the Johnson Reservoir area. The sand and clay deposited in the lake bottom is now the wet, grassy meadow.
Location: Fishlake National Forest
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Pelican Canyon was occupied by a glacier many thousands of years ago. The glacier carved a bowl-like depression, or cirque, at the head of the canyon which is still visible as cliffs at the upper end of the canyon.
The steep, hummocky hill in the foreground is a moraine, made of rock and soil debris gouged from the side and bottoms of the canyon and deposited by the glacier.
Location: Fishlake National Forest
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The road up Seven Mile Valley passes along the edge of several large glacial moraines which are the largest in the area. From the turnoff to the broad part of the valley, the Rock Springs Canyon moraine rises next to the road on the west side and was deposited by a 4-mile long glacier. About 2.5 miles up the valley is a similar large moraine deposited by a 2-mile long glacier. At several points, you can look up these canyons to the high cliffs from which the glaciers descended into the Seven Mile Valley.
Location: Fishlake National Forest
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Widgeon Bay is the result of material scoured out by the Pelican Canyon Glacier being deposited into Fish Lake. Water from the melting glacier was laden with silt, sand and rock which flowed into the lake, forming a fan-like deposit. The deposits intruded into the lake, forming the narrow channel which now connects Widgeon Bay with the main area of the lake.
Location: Fishlake National Forest
